LJN Newsletters

Analysis of recent key rulings.

Over the past several years, the United Kingdom has been flexing its muscles in the global anti-corruption arena with the imposition of large penalties against companies involved in foreign-bribery offenses, focusing on individual accountability for corporate officials, close coordination with U.S. prosecutors in parallel investigations, and enforcement tools such as self-disclosures, settlements and negotiated plea agreements.

What are the implications of having child pornography on the premises? In businesses, child pornography generally is discovered by IT personnel. Or, if a corporation undergoes an unrelated internal investigation in which all computers, hard drives, e-mail servers, etc. are frozen and searched for responsive material, such a search can to lead to the discovery of child pornography stored on the corporation's server or on an individual's hard drive. What can/must/should be done as a result?

In June, the Supreme Court unanimously held that Enron's former CEO Jeffrey Skilling did not commit "honest services" fraud, ruling that the statute under which he was convicted must be limited to bribery and kickback schemes to avoid constitutional concerns over vagueness. The decision should curtail prosecution of a variety of conduct that the government would otherwise seek to criminalize through the statute. In contrast, the courts are expanding the reach of other criminal statutes to encompass conduct previously regarded as outside their scope.

Harvard Law School Fall 2010 Entertainment Symposium
Nashville Bar Association Annual Entertainment Law in Review

Evidentiary Restrictions on Proving Copyright Substantial Similarity
Profits Accounting for Use of Band Name Is Nondischargeable Debt
Third Amended Complaint Allowed in Karaoke Case

When Christopher S. Harrison first joined DMX Inc. in 2005 as vice president of business affairs, he says the new-employee paperwork required by the company was a good omen. He says he signed a waiver that he would not complain about offensive lyrics in the music playing in the office. "I knew I had made the right decision," says Harrison, now general counsel of DMX, an Austin, TX-based music provider to retailers, restaurants, hotels and other businesses. "We have music, different kinds of music, playing in pretty much everybody's office all the time," says Harrison, a fan of hip-hop and classic rock.

CONCERT PROMOTION/TICKET SALES DISPUTE
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/INDEPENDENT CREATION